Turtle Pursuit
by Brinatello
Summary: Leonardo and Splinter play a game of Trivial Pursuit with two friends. Sound simple? Read to see who wins and who loses!


_Turtle Pursuit  
By Brinatello_

A.N.: This short was actually an outtake from a discarded fanfic I wrote called, "The Fire in Winter," the sequel to "Eve of Destruction." The scene contains four characters: Leonardo, Splinter, Laurie (a sister to one of the main characters from "Eve,") speaking in first person, and Irukah (a Japanese friend to Splinter). While I may never be sure if I'll put this story back up at my web site, I thought I'd share this quick scene just for amusement. Enjoy!

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After dinner, the four of us gathered around to play an arousing game of Trivial Pursuit. Genus Edition. Known to be 'the thinking game' or just plain difficult for the not-so-smart (such as yours truly), I discovered I wasn't going to win when competing against players who spent half of their lives reading about every single category. To make matters worse, this particular version was written in Japanese. I knew this wasn't going to be easy.

It went around the table like this: Irukah started the game and Splinter asked the questions for her. Next, came my turn and Leonardo read the questions to me. After my turn came Leonardo's, and since I couldn't read the cards, Irukah would ask him the questions. Lastly was Splinter's turn and Leonardo read the questions for him.

Already two hours into play, I was beginning to wonder if all those A's in school held any meaning for me at all. Leonardo, on the other hand, was very good at this game, getting each question right and rarely getting any wrong. The same went for Splinter. Irukah had some difficulty on a few, but she knew her history quite well. I missed almost every single question, being the lowest on collecting the different colored chips in my token piece. Having pity on my struggles, Leonardo tried to help me along by secretly dropping hints for the answers. This gave the other two players something to complain about.

"That's not how you play!" Irukah said, pointing to him as I put the brown chip in my token piece.

Leo shrugged. "Hey, she got one chip. You only need three more to win, Irukah."

"Don't even look at how many he's got." I mumbled to her. Leonardo had all six of the colored chips while Splinter had five chips. All he needed to get was the orange chip. For winning the brown chip, I was able to roll again, getting a four. "Hmm...blue...blue...or green. I'll pick green."

"Very well." Leo lifted the card and looked to the question by the green dot. "For Science and Nature, what plant takes its name from the Italian for _beautiful lady_?" I watched him flip the card over, read the answer, and then smile to me as if I knew the answer.

"Ummm...." I thought deeply. "A rose."

"Sorry, no." Leo frowned, shaking his head. "Belladonna. In Italian, bella means beautiful and the name Donna means lady. Beautiful lady. Besides," He leaned closer to me, "I said plant, not flower."

"Ohhh..." I turned away, feeling quite dumb. "Maybe I was thinking a rose _for_ a beautiful lady."

"Don't worry." His smile returned. "It's still anyone's game." Well, that made me feel a little better!

It was now Leonardo's turn. His last win was the pink chip. Pink is for Entertainment, a category in which I noticed was his hardest subject. Now, his goal was to get to the center of the board to win the game. I watched him roll the die. From his spot on pink, he rolled a five, landing him on a yellow space. The History category. Irukah lifted the card, read the question to herself, and then pouted to him. It must be one he would easily get.

"Who lit the Eternal Flame on John F. Kennedy's grave?"

Leo thought for a mere second. "Jacqueline Kennedy."

"Hai." Irukah said yes and put the card away. Leonardo rolled again, getting a two. He needed a one to hit the hub but instead, had to backtrack over on a brown space. Arts and Literature. Irukah picked the next card. "What season is the setting for Shakespeare's _Midsummer Night's Dream_?"

"Spring." Leo calmly stated, making Irukah frown again.

"Hai. Roll again."

"Come on three." Leo rolled a one. Orange or green. "I'll take green."

"How many times a year does a penguin have sex?" Irukah flipped over the card, lifted her brows and smirked. Leonardo sat back with a blank stare. He never studied those kind of birds, let alone knew how many times they had sex in a year! He looked over to me, but I was no help. I was just as clueless as he was.

"Um...this is just a guess. Two times."

"One time." Irukah grinned. She seemed to like it when he got a wrong answer.

"No way!" I shrilled out. "Just once in a year? What's the fun in..." I stopped myself when I noticed they were all looking at me. "Um, your turn, Splinter."

Sports and Leisure was the orange category, and during the whole game play, I watched him struggle over a few. On the next roll, his token moved onto the space to win the orange chip. The big space with a triangular orange picture and little cherubs holding it up. He gritted his teeth and looked up to Leonardo.

"Okay, sensei. For the orange chip. What chess outcome results when a player has no legal move?" Leo flipped it around, nodded, and waited. Splinter tapped a claw on the table, getting the answer in no time.

"A stalemate."

"Correct." Splinter smiled. Leo put the card in the back of the card holder as Splinter put the sixth and final chip in his token piece. Now, two players had to reach the center to win. The game started to get competitive. A three came up as he headed up toward the center of the board. A pink space. Leo lifted the card to look at the question for Entertainment. "What Humphrey Bogart film poster is on the wall over Woody Allen's bed in _Play it Again, Sam?_"

"Hmm..." Splinter looked puzzled and decided to guess one of the most popular Bogart films. "_Casablanca._" Leonardo shook his head. "No?"

"Tricky one. It was a film called, _Across the Pacific_. Sorry."

"Ah, no worries, my son. It appears my history in film has become quite rusty. Your turn, Irukah." Irukah rolled a four and landed on blue. Geography, and not on a chip space. Her grin quickly faded on her face, plus, I heard her growl.

"No! Hate that!"

Splinter lifted the card from his deck and glanced to it. "What man-made waterway is 100.76 miles long?"

Irukah turned her eyes skyward as if looking for the answer on the ceiling. I watched her in silence. Maybe she knew? "The Panama Canal?"

Splinter shook his head, flipping the card around. "The Suez Canal."

"Kuso!" Irukah growled and passed me the die. I could hear Splinter tisk quietly to her but she ignored him.

"What'd she say?" I leaned in and whispered to Leonardo. He only mouthed the answer: 'crap' "Ohhh..." So much about hearing how lady-like she was! Oh, well. I was still on the green space and no matter what, a six won't put me on another color chip space. I rolled, getting a five. Move back or go across the center. I went across toward the green chip, getting near it but not actually on it. Oh, dear. Not that one.

"Yellow." Leo called out. "History." I grumbled quietly. "Your favorite--"

"Leo! Just read the question already!"

Leonardo nodded and gazed down. "Who was the second son of Henry VII and Elizabeth of York?" I had no idea. The second son...wouldn't he be Henry II, no, wait, that can't be right. As I pondered, I caught Leonardo quietly start to hum a song. "I'm...hmm...hmm....I am....I got married to the widow next door, she's been married seven times before..." I could see Splinter was not looking pleased with this.

"Henry VIII." I blurted out and pointed a finger.

Leo grinned from ear to ear. "Correct! That was a good guess."

"Yes, no thanks to a little 'thinking music'..." Splinter said with a slight frown.

"Okay, come on...I need a two." I mumbled as I rolled, getting my desired number. "Two! Green chip!" Science and Nature. Not my best subject but heck, it was a lot better to try to win a chip than guess right and win nothing.

Leo picked the card, glanced to it and smiled at me. "Easy win. Who invented the stock ticker in 1870?" He flipped it over, nodded, and placed it flat down, looking to me. That wasn't an easy win! I didn't know! I, too, looked up to the ceiling, thinking real hard. Stock ticker in 1870? Who the heck was that? Leo started to mumble softly. "It's someone....very famous--"

"Leonardo." Splinter warned him. Irukah frowned like me, not knowing either.

"Someone very famous? Um, in 1870?" I asked. Leonardo nodded, glancing down at the card.

"You know, it's pretty dark in here." I watched him get up to flip the lamp to a higher setting. He flipped it again, even higher, winking at me. "What would we do without...electricity?"

It finally hit me. "Thomas Edison?" Leonardo smiled broadly, nodding and returning to his seat to put the card away. "I got it!"

"Indeed. A light has turned on for you." Splinter glanced to me, then to Leonardo whom kept his gaze down to the table. The green chip was given to me. Now, I had two out of the six chip pieces. I couldn't look up to the two pursing their lips at me. I rolled again, getting a one. Orange in all three directions!

"Noooo! I'm terrible with sports!"

"Aww, it can't be that difficult, sweetie." Leo said while lifting the next card, frowning to it. Or can it? Uh, oh. He looked stumped himself. "What's the practice of training hawks called?"

"To do what?" I asked.

"To do anything." Leo shrugged, flipping the card around to frown even deeper at the answer. "Just take a guess."

"I don't know." I looked away, throwing out the first thing that came to mind. "Fowl training."

Leo laughed, shaking his head. "Falconry."

"Sure, Leo. That was my next guess. Here you go." The die was passed to him and he rolled a four, passing the center, and landing on a pink space. Entertainment. I lifted the card and handed it to Irukah. She laughed next, knowing he'd be stumped again.

"Who are the three acting Redgraves?" She put the card down and looked to Leonardo whom sat thinking. Ohhh, so easy! I knew that! I knew the Entertainment category quite well. He wasn't too interested in television and movies and it certainly paid a price this time. Irukah would not hint to him at all. I would, but he never looked over to see me mouthing their first names. Splinter saw me, though.

"Laurie." He warned. I stopped and grinned. Leonardo looked to Splinter, then to me. He only caught me grinning.

"Well, I know one is Lynn Redgrave." Leo said slowly. Irukah nodded. "Um, two more?" Oh, this was painful to watch. "Um, is there a Vanessa?" Irukah nodded again. "Okay, one more then. Um...."

Michael! It was Michael Redgrave! How can I throw him a hint? He was having so much trouble, I had to think of something. Michael, Mike...Mikey....

"Which brother did you tell me played sick a lot as a child..." I mumbled. "One brother of yours....."

"Laurie!" Splinter hissed. I grinned, looking to Leonardo.

Leo thought hard, thinking of which brother played sick. Then he remembered our conversation awhile back. "Mike? Or is it Michael Redgrave?"

"Hai." Irukah put the card back in the deck, giving me an evil look. Hey, he helped me many times! It was only fair. Leonardo rolled again and got a three onto a brown space. Arts and Literature. "Where does the _Venus de Milo_ stand?"

He answered in two seconds. "The Louvre, Paris." Sure does know his history. "Now, come on five." He rolled a three onto another pink square. Close to the center, but not close enough. "Oh, man! Not pink again!"

Irukah smiled as she lifted the card. "What Barry McGuire hit was rock's first protest song?" I knew, I knew! But judging by Leonardo's face, he didn't know! I quietly began to sing the song a little bit.

"The eastern world, it is explodin', violence flarin', bullets-- mmph!" Irukah reached over to cover my mouth. Splinter lifted a grin as if to thank her silently.

"Oh, I know this song..." Leo closed his eyes, thinking deeply. "I can't remember the title of it. Something...of despair? Eve of Despair."

"No. Eve of Destruction." Irukah said with a slight chuckle.

"Eve of Destruction." Leo repeated, shaking his head. "How could I forget such a name?"

"You came pretty close." I smiled with a shrug.

From the pink space, Splinter rolled a two and went two spaces up, one space closer to the center. It was blue. Geography. Leonardo picked the card and looked down. He shook his head, smiling to him.

"What Italian city is home to da Vinci's _The Last Supper_?"

That took no time. "Milan."

"Correct." Leo knew he would get it right. Splinter would know about the artist, Leonardo da Vinci. "Okay, roll again." He rolled a one! He was in the hub. When the player is in the hub with all six chips, the opposing players get to choose any color from the categories for him to answer the question, obviously picking one they would have the most trouble with. "Whoa, okay! You're in the center, Master! Which category should we choose for him?"

"How 'bout orange?" Irukah suggested. "He seemed to stumble on those the most." I agreed.

"All right. Orange it is." Splinter appeared to look calm as Leo started to read it. "What's the most popular hobby in America?"

His calm face quickly changed to stumped. It was obviously something he didn't know. I was stumped, too, thinking of every hobby people would do as a popular past time. Leonardo knew the answer only because he read the card, but as for the rest of us, we were pretty much puzzled.

"Stamp collecting."

"Oooh. No..." Leo gritted his teeth and looked to him with a slight frown. "Coin collecting. Sorry, Master. You'll have to leave the hub and try again later."

"Mm, that was not an easy one." Splinter nodded. "Your turn, Irukah."

Irukah looked to see she was on blue last and rolled a one. "Pink or Roll Again." She chose to roll again. A two. "Yellow chip!" We glanced down, her piece landed on the yellow chip space. History. Tough one. Splinter lifted the card and looked to it, raising his eyebrows.

"Who was _The Mad Monk_?"

"Ooh, I know this." Irukah stared up to The Thinking Ceiling. She covered her eyes and thought for awhile. "Rasputin?"

"Correct." Splinter grinned.

"Yaaaaah!" I couldn't help but smile for her victory. Plus, the sound she made was kind of funny. She rolled a five next, roll again in either direction. She rolled a one close to the orange chip space, landing on green. "Green!"

"That's a good color." Leo grinned, reaching for his tea cup.

"What does a man suffering from..." Splinter's eyes widened, "....diphallic terata have?"

"Huh?" Irukah said aloud.

That's what I would have said, too. Diphallic terata? I've never heard of such a thing before. Leonardo must have known when I noticed him start to cough and sputter on his soothing green tea. Splinter merely nodded to the answer as Irukah looked both confused and uncertain of what the terms meant. I had no idea, either, and kept looking to Leonardo for the answer.

"Do you know?" I whispered to him. It appeared he ignored me as he attempted to clear his irritated throat. "Leo, do you know?"

"Yeah, mm, hmm." He nodded slowly.

"What is it?" I leaned in to him, my curiosity growing stronger.

"It's um...um..." Leo gestured below his robe belt, trying to make sure Irukah wasn't watching him. "I, uh, can't tell you...here..." Standing up, he waved a hand for me to follow him in the hallway where he could safely give the answer. "It's when a man has..." He whispered it, but it was almost like he said it at full volume. Irukah frowned to my wide-eyed and gaping mouth expression.

"Ohhhhhhkaaaaaay!" I casually strolled back over to pillow seat with Leonardo in tow, grinning broadly to Irukah. "I don't think you'll get this one, Irukah, not even with two guesses!"

"Very funny, Laurie." Leo gave me a look before resuming his seat. "Do you give up, Irukah?"

"No, wait." Irukah raised a hand. "Is the answer two heads?"

"What?" Leo asked and this time, I snorted soda up my nose.

"A man having two heads?" She asked, looking to Splinter.

"Which head?" Splinter seriously asked her. I was starting to snicker and cough at this point. He looked over to me with a warning look.

"The head. You know?" Irukah pointed to her skull. "Atama! Siamese twin. Two heads on one body."

"Ah, then no. That is wrong." Splinter shook his head. "It is when a man has two penises."

"Ohhh." Irukah laughed out loud. "I get it! The pee-pee head!" I tried as best as I could by covering my mouth, but the giggles escaped faster than I could catch them. Even Leonardo was trying to conceal a smile with his hand. "Odd. A man can have two pee-pee heads?"

"Hard to believe, huh?" I grinned, still snickering at the way she was calling it. "Heh, I'd actually call it a blessing more than a suffering!" Leonardo bit his lip and Splinter calmly put the card back in the deck, still giving me the same warning look. "Ummmm....is it my turn already?!" The subject seemed to drop as soon as I reached for the die. Yes, we will carry on like normal adults...

I was still on the orange space next to the green chip, and no matter what, my rolled six won't land me on a chip that I needed. Going one way would put me back on the brown space, one I already had. The other direction would bring me closer to the pink chip space, one that I did need. But, surrounding that space was blue spaces! Geography!

"No! I hate blue!"

"Aww, blue's such a nice color." Leo grinned to my protests and lifted up the card. "Maybe it'll be an easy one." I watched his grin remain with an added shrug. "What part of New York City was called _broken land_ by the Dutch?"

"Broken land. Broken land." I repeated. Damn. "In New York City?" Leonardo watched me, not even budging to hint. "Broken.....land."

"Yup." He simply said. I stared at him, waiting. He put the card down and placed a hand under his chin. "Jus tink 'bout it, sistah. All you gotta dooo's is use yer head." Why was he talking like that? Was it a hint?

"Broken....broke.....Bro....." I looked up, seeing his grin widening. "Oh! Brooklyn."

"YES!" Leo exclaimed and my smile matched his. The others grinned as well, glad to see I answered one without too many hints. He put the card away, continuing to grin. "Good job, Laurie!"

I threw a hand down. "Eh, fo-getta 'bout it!" Getting it right, it was still my turn. Looking to where I was, I hoped to roll a one for the pink chip. I was surprised to see, as easy as pink was, I didn't pick up that chip yet. I rolled the die and looked to the number. Two. Hmm, going one way, it would skip the pink chip and put me on blue again, or the other way will put me on a brown space. Arts and Literature. I think I can handle it. "Brown, Leo."

"All right, Laurie." Leo reached for the card and read the question slowly. "What word occurs 46,227 times in the Bible?" He flipped to the answer and grinned at it. "And, can you guess it?"

"The Bible..." I said softly, trying to think of a word used quite often in the holiest of holy books. "A word in the Bible?"

"Yes." He nodded, winking to me. "And, can you figure out the word?"

I decided not to think and give out the obvious. "God."

Leo shook his head. "And."

I blinked to him. "Oh, two words? Um, God and love."

Leo smirked. "No, 'and' is the word that occurs 46,227 times."

"And??! Oh, lord!" I rolled my eyes, catching what I said, and covered my mouth. "Sorry, but who really knows that for a fact? I mean, is this game accurate? Did someone literally count all the 'and' words in the Bible?" Leo shrugged a little.

"I dunno, Laurie, I'm just going by what the answer says."

Leonardo rolled next, getting five and backtracking to hit the center..or the hub. Oooh, and with all six chips. If he answered correctly, he wins the game. I was not about to help him out this time. He watched Irukah pick up a card and look to the three of us.

"How about pink?" She looked to Splinter and I.

"No, that would be too hard!" I exclaimed. "He doesn't know the Entertainment category too well."

"Laurie, that is the object of the game. We want the question to be hard for him so that he cannot win." Splinter said, looking over to Leonardo whom sat quietly. I looked to him.

"Why not pick History, Irukah?" Leo said casually.

"No, too easy!" Leonardo looked away with a small grin. "I pick pink. Hai?" Splinter and I slowly nodded and Irukah read it. "What was the proper _Laugh-In _response to: 'Say goodnight, Dick'?" Oh, man! The answer was right there! I glanced to Leonardo whom frowned.

"Goodnight, Dick?" He just said it, but as a question. Did that count?

"Is that your answer, Leonardo-san?" Irukah asked.

"Um, no, I'm not sure." Leo scratched his neck. She tricked him! Oh, I couldn't believe it! I sat back and looked to him, shaking my head. I looked to Irukah. She was loving this. I couldn't even help him this time. I wanted to keep playing and try to make it to the center. I still needed four more chips to collect. It was hopeless. "Um...'Goodnight, everybody.' I guess."

"Nope. It's Goodnight, Dick!" Irukah put the card away.

"That's what I said!" Leo looked to the deck, fishing the card out to see. "Yeah, that's what I first said. Goodnight, Dick!"

"You said it in the form of a question, Leonardo-san!" Irukah wagged a finger. "I asked if that was your answer and you said no. You lose."

"You tricked me, then!" He stammered. Exactly what I was thinking. He looked to me. "You knew I got it right, didn't you Laurie?" I blinked to him, my hand covering my mouth. "See?"

"I didn't say anything."

"Laurie, I said the answer, so I win, right?"

"Well, you changed your answer, plus, you answered it in a question. So, no, you lost."

Leo stood and snatched up my game piece, pointing to it. "Then, maybe I should take back your green chip because you answered Thomas Edison as a question!"

"No!" I jumped up next, snatching it back. "That's not fair! I won that chip with no help at all."

"Only because I hinted it to you by turning on a lamp! Why are you making this more difficult?"

I pointed to him. "Because I have four chips less than you and I'm not sitting in the hub!"

"So, that makes it okay to trick me?" Leo pointed to the center. "Look, I'm in the center with all six chips and I answered the question correctly."

I shook my head defiantely. "No, you changed your answer. You lost! You have to answer another question!"

"Laurie!"

"No!" I turned to Splinter. "It's your turn, Splinter! You go!"

Silence crossed over the table. We looked to the two and sat back down, not realizing we both stood up in an angered fit. Leonardo finally groaned and passed the die to Splinter.

"Fine. Here, sensei. It's your turn." Splinter looked to Leo, whom was pouting, then to me, whom was biting my lip. From his spot in the center, he rolled a two and moved to something he could answer in blue. Geography. Leo lifted the card. "What color does the bride wear in China?"

"Red." Splinter answered promptly.

"Really?" I looked at him.

"Yes." Leo said quietly. "You didn't know that?"

"No, but in the movie, _Beetlejuice_, Lydia's wedding dress was red. Even Beetlejuice wore red. Remember?" Leo kept staring at me as if he didn't care. "Why did they wear red if nobody was Chinese? Was it to symbolize evil or the Devil?"

"I don't know, Laurie. Write to Tim Burton and ask him yourself." There was a tone in his voice I didn't like. I think he was still upset after our little argument. I hated when he acted that way and he knew it too by having to turn away from me. "Roll again, sensei." Splinter rolled, getting another two. Smack dead in the center again. We watched him drop his piece down in the hub, smiling rather coyly to us.

"Well, what a surprise."

"Isn't it?" Leo put his gaze right back on me. He wasn't going to let me forget this! Leo picked up another card but didn't look at the questions, something he should have done but is really illegal in the game. You're supposed to pick the color before looking at the card. A fair way to go. Leo looked around the table, his eyes locking on mine. "Which color should we pick?"

"Orange!" Irukah and I both said, thinking that was the toughest one for him. He only got one answer right from it, and that was for winning the orange chip.

"All right, in the category Sports and Leisure....." Leo looked down to it, sighed heavily, then looked back up. "You.....have.....won."

Splinter frowned. "What?"

"This is too easy." Leo calmly said, waving the card to us.

"Well, what is it, then?" Splinter looked to him, then to us.

"Can we pick another color?" Leo glanced around.

"Gomen." Irukah mumbled sorry. I grinned with a shrug. Splinter glared to him, making Leonardo surrender.

"All right, fine. What's the national sport of Japan?" He put the card away, not even having to look at the back of it for the answer.

Splinter grinned widely. "Sumo wrestling."

"Yup! You got it. Sensei won." Leo stood up, shaking his hand. "Congratulations. That leaves the rest of us to clean up the game and snack tray."

Splinter laughed heartly, looking over at the time. "It is very late and we should all turn in now. Ah, aside from the yelling," He looked between Leonardo and myself, "that was a very good game." He rose and went to take the popcorn bowl to the sink but I was much quicker, doing it for him. "Thank you, Laurie. I must get some rest now. You did very well."

"Yeah, on the ones I got on my own!"

"Goodnight, Laurie. I will see you in the morning."

Irukah cleaned up the snacks and moved to the kitchen. Letting out a sigh, she started to head down the hall, then paused to turn around. "Well, Leonardo-san you came real close tonight. Next time, maybe?"

Leo nodded. "Maybe. Goodnight, Irukah."

"Goodnight, Leonardo-san. Goodnight, Rori."

I waved to her and she disappeared down the hall. I approached the table, glancing down. "Next time. Hmmph! You should have won tonight, Leo. You did answer that question right."

Leo looked up at me wide-eyed and mouth dropped. "Oh, _now _you say that after I lose and he wins! If that's how you feel, why didn't you cover for me? Why were you taking her side?"

"Well, because she was right. You changed your answer at the last minute."

"But, I didn't realize I had even said the right answer." Leo insisted. "The rules don't say the question has to be answered as a statement. As long as you get the answer right is what counts." He groaned and I giggled. "You're enjoying this, aren't you?"

"More than I should." I covered my mouth to hide the smile but he could already see it. "I think I'll go to bed next."

"Yeah, I'll be heading there as well. Just need to clear the table."

Half-way down the hall, I stood and watched him for a moment. His face showed no anger, only pure exhaust. It had been a long day and I knew he was tired from it all. However, our little outburst made me want to know, at least to hear it out loud.

"Leo?" Leonardo paused in folding up the game board and looked in my direction. I took slow steps back over to the table, keeping my gaze below his neck. He could see my smile had long faded and I wore a serious expression. "Before I go, I have to ask you something."

"What?" He asked, dropping his brow.

"Are you...mad at me?"

Leo shook his head. "No, I'm not. I just got a little upset with how Irukah handled that question."

"Oh." I stared at half of the game put in the box, feeling him watch me closely. "I thought with, you know, how you were acting, you were mad at me."

"How was I acting?" He asked softly. I shrugged, unable to look at him. "All right, maybe I did get a little bit of an attitude with you, but that was only because of how you were acting to me. I was surprised that you took Irukah's side when you knew I was right the whole time."

"I know, and I'm sorry." I lifted my gaze a little, seeing him now look to me with concern. "You had every right to get upset with her...and with me...and now, I feel bad that you lost because of it--"

"Hey..." Leo put the game board down and walked around the table to stand inches in front of me. "Listen, Laurie. I'm not mad at you, I never was from the start. It's just a game, and I don't want you to worry about your feelings or my feelings all night long. Okay?"

"Okay, that's all I wanted to know." I don't know what possessed me, but in the next two seconds, I leaned forward to give him a tight hug. He seemed surprised by my gesture and just stood there motionless, unsure of how to react. I knew I shouldn't have made such a move when I pulled back to see him staring with puzzlement. To think what his reaction would have been if I had kissed him! "Sorry."

"Why?"

"I shouldn't have done that."

"Why?" Leo repeated, still looking puzzled.

"Because," I thought for a moment, "you seemed uncomfortable with it--"

"Don't be sorry." He quickly said. "I guess I'm not used to that kind of affection from girls."

"I understand." Leonardo only stared as if trying to read me like a book, searching for answers on the outside as well as in. We had only been together for less than a week and I thought for sure a teenager like myself would have sent him over the edge by now. At this moment, his stare was starting to send me over some other edge, one I was certain I couldn't be rescued from. I had to cut this conversation short before he or I made any other moves. "Okay, I'm really going to bed this time. See you later." I started to head down the hall, not getting very far when I heard him ask me something.

"Do you want to learn some katakana tomorrow?"

I paused and turned to him. "Kata...what?"

"Katakana, one of the four character sets in Japanese writing." He shrugged. "It's a very angular script, one of the easiest in my opinion. I figured while you were here in Japan with us, I can teach you to write some basic words." Basic. To me, there was nothing basic about the language! However, an invitation to sit for hours with a turtle I was admiring more and more each day couldn't be passed up.

I smiled again. "I'd love to, Leo."

"Great, we'll start right after breakfast." He nodded and went back to putting away the game. "Goodnight, Laurie."

"Okay." Feeling much better, something inside made me want to say it and I called back without thought, "Goodnight, Dick!" I giggled heavily, catching him place his hands on his hips before I slammed my bedroom door shut. That wasn't a smart move. This door was made of rice paper and he was a ninja with two big swords. I think I should sleep with one eye open tonight...or perhaps for the rest of my life!

THE END


End file.
